The City of Mississauga partners with BioTalent Canada to support its rich pool of biotech talent

OTTAWA, May 12, 2014 /CNW/ - BioTalent Canada today announced a new partnership with the City of Mississauga's Economic Development Office that is designed to help strengthen Canada's bio-economy through talent development and outreach, with a series of special programs and services focusing on developing the biotech talent in Mississauga, one of Canada's largest Biotech industrial cluster. The partnership will give residents and businesses enhanced access to a host of programs and services engineered to foster talent.

"We look forward to working with BioTalent Canada to showcase our position as a leading source of top talent for the biotech industry," says Susan Amring, Director of Economic Development for the City of Mississauga. "This partnership will help us better support our existing life sciences sector by connecting businesses with the highly skilled talent required to ensure continuous growth and innovation in the industry."

"The growth of Canada's bio-economy relies on skills," says Rob Henderson, President and CEO of BioTalent Canada. "Mississauga's strength as a biotech cluster and depth as a talent pool combined with our HR focus and national partner network will be able to showcase and strengthen our biotech talent. We are thrilled with the opportunity this partnership brings to the industry to advance a sector hampered by skills shortages."

Providing the City of Mississauga enhanced access to leading HR tools developed by BioTalent Canada, like The PetriDish™, Canada's only bilingual biotechnology job board, will allow the City of Mississauga to develop, attract and retain the talent needed to help the city's biotech industry to flourish.

The City of Mississauga joins one of Canada's largest national biotechnology networks, comprised of over 30 national, provincial and private sector organizations, one that BioTalent Canada has forged over the past two years.  BioTalent Canada's other corporate Partners include Rx&D (Canada's Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies), BIOTECanada, MEDEC, Canadian Renewable Fuels Association (CRFA), Scotiabank StartRight, Human Resources Professionals Association (HRPA) and Porter Airlines.  This network gives partners a direct channel and exposure to thousands of employers, and job seekers, and the rapidly emerging market of internationally educated professionals in Canada's bio-economy.

About BioTalent Canada:

BioTalent Canada is the HR partner of Canada's bio-economy. As an HR expert and national non-profit organization, BioTalent Canada focuses on building partnerships and skills for Canada's bio-economy to ensure the industry has access to job-ready people. Through projects, research, and product development, BioTalent Canada connects employers with job seekers, delivers human resource information, and skills development tools so the industry can focus on strengthening Canada's biotech business. For more information, please visit www.biotalent.ca.

About The City of Mississauga

As Canada's sixth largest city, Mississauga is home to 752,000 residents and more than 54,000 businesses, including more than 60 Fortune 500 companies with Canadian head offices or major divisional head offices. To learn more about the City of Mississauga's life sciences cluster and other industry sectors, visit www.winthehumanrace.ca.

SOURCE: BioTalent Canada

Media Inquiries: BioTalent Canada, Siobhan Williams, Director, Marketing and Communications, 613-235-1402 ext. 229, [email protected]